


Losing Time (a crossover adventure)

by mogirl97



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Time Travel, but i have taken a few of my own liberties with certain things, if you want something done right you do it yourself y'all, it's somewhat canon compliant, this is going to get hella tropey so buckle up, this is the crossover event that i want but will never happen, yes i stole some of this plot from timeless because i can
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-10-27 05:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17760416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogirl97/pseuds/mogirl97
Summary: "You up for a summer vacation, Legends style?"When the Time Bureau's second Waverider gets jacked by a hoard of ARGUS jalbreakers, summer vacation comes to a crashing halt for the Legends, Team Arrow, Team Flash, and Team Supergirl alike. Chasing down a group of meta escapees as they jump through time while sharing one bathroom? What could go wrong?





	1. Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends! I tweeted like a year ago that they needed to make the annual crossover event centered around the Legends so that everyone could go time traveling together, but alas in life you don't always get what you want.... so you write it yourself. This is a different style fic for me because it's very "episode" style so it has a lot of scenes with different characters interacting and therefore different POVs. I did it my best to keep it as minimally confusing though :D 
> 
> All the couples I tagged will get focused on during this fic so you'll probably enjoy it more if you ship all of them, but you can always just "fast forward" (scroll) through certain scenes if one of the ships is not your cup of tea. ok? ok
> 
> Shout out to Elle who helped me write the synopsis for this fic (translation: she wrote the entire thing herself) because I'm the worst at those. And it got you to click! here you are! I'll stop rambling now so you can get to reading..... enjoy!

**-SARA-**

“Wait. Hold up, the Time Bureau has a second Wave Rider?”

“ _Had._ Had a second Wave Rider,” Ava emphasized. “It was just completed a few days ago and was supposed to be a surprise. We figured it was about time you guys had more than one bathroom.”

_Hell yeah it is._

Sara frowned, “But it was stolen.”

Ava’s facial expression mirrored hers, “Yeah. And to make the situation worse, I just received a call from the director of ARGUS, reporting that it was spotted at the site of a break in at one of their blacksite prisons. So whoever’s responsible for taking the ship now also has a team of dangerous metas to wreak havoc on history with.”

Sara mulled over the news, one sentence jumping out at her in particular, “You know Lyla?”

“Director Michaels? We’re both directors of top secret, off-book government agencies, of course I know her. We just had dinner last month, she makes the most delicious chicken cacciatore.” Sara gave her girlfriend an amused look and Ava refocused, “The point is, Nate and I have all of our agents here occupied with dealing with the fall-out of the break in, which means I’m going to need the Legends to chase down this thief and the missing metas. And… with Mick off on his book tour--”

“Yeah, about that.” Sara interjected. “We get paid vacation time?”

Ava ignored her and continued, “And Constantine off doing--well, I don’t really understand what exactly it is that he does--but anyway, I think you might want to call in some back-up for this.”

Sara nodded in understanding and tipped her head back.

“Gideon? Plot us a course for Central City. 2019.”

**-IRIS-**

“Cheers to Smoak Tech.”

“And the Central City Citizen.”

“And to husbands who can cook,” Iris clinked her wineglass against Felicity’s.

“Amen,” Felicity replied, smiling at her friend before taking a sip of her sparkling cider.

One of Felicity’s hands rested on the swell of her pregnant belly and Iris’ gaze lingered on it for a moment. Ever since Nora had returned to her own place in the timeline, Iris had taken an unnecessarily excessive amount of pregnancy tests. As busy as her newspaper was keeping her, she missed having her daughter around. By her estimation, she was due to be getting pregnant soon though and wouldn’t be missing Nora for long. Admittedly it would be weird to be changing the diapers of a daughter she had already known as an adult... but that was just life with time travelers in the family.

The two of them were sitting at the barstools in she and Barry’s loft while they watched the guys finish cooking their dinner. As much as Oliver and Barry liked to antagonize each other over just about everything, they were managing to collaborate pretty well on wining and dining their wives to celebrate the careers they had long dreamed about finally manifesting. The loft was filled with the most amazing aromas coming from the oven and stove-top. For the first time since their wedding, things were actually calm enough for them to spend time together without it being necessitated by a disaster looming overhead. They should get together during the summer more often.

It was nice.

It felt a little like a trap though; like the other shoe was just moments away from dropping.The four of them together was like a super-powered magnet for chaos.

They almost made it to dessert.

Iris and Barry’s phones started buzzing simultaneously, signaling a STAR Labs emergency, and Iris sighed in resignation.

“There’s an unidentified object in the pipeline?” she read off her screen.

“Checking the cameras now…” Barry muttered, scrolling across his phone screen and sighing a moment later. “Object identified. It’s the Waverider. That can’t mean anything good.”

“Maybe they just heard Oliver was making pie,” Felicity joked, looking over at the confection cooling on the counter.

“I’ll run over and see what’s up,” Barry offered, zipping away.

“We should probably clean up and head over ourselves,” Iris gestured at the table. “Something tells me this dinner is over.”

When they got to STAR Labs, they found Barry and Cisco in the cortex talking to Sara.

“Oh good, you two are here too,” Sara remarked when she spotted Oliver and Felicity. “Saves me a trip.” Her eyes widened when she noticed Felicity’s bump. “When were you going to tell me about that?”

Felicity shrugged, “You’ve been a little hard to get a hold of.”

Sara tipped her head in admission, “Fair enough.”

What’s going on Sara?” Oliver asked, eager to get to the cause of their dinner’s disruption.

“We’ve got a little situation involving a stolen time ship and a meta jailbreak. You up for a summer vacation, Legends style?”

Oliver and Felicity exchanged a glance with each other as Barry and Iris did the same.

“We’re in,” Iris answered.

“Us too,” Felicity added, although Oliver didn’t look entirely convinced.

He rested a hand on his wife’s shoulder, “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I’m pregnant, not dying. I feel great.” Felicity assured him. “Women run marathons and do CrossFit while they’re pregnant, I can handle a little time traveling.”

“Do they have to worry about getting shot at while doing CrossFit?”

“How would I know what they do in those nightmare boxes?” Felicity stood her ground, “I promise I won’t do anything reckless.”   

Oliver sighed and looked to the others for backup.

“I mean with our track record she’s more likely to be eaten by a dinosaur or impaled by a unicorn than shot,” Sara offered unhelpfully.

“We can keep her and the baby safe, Oliver,” Barry assured him.

“Would you want Iris coming with us if she was pregnant?” Oliver countered.

Iris raised a challenging eyebrow at her husband.

“I know I wouldn’t be able to stop her if she decided she was coming.”

_Good answer babe._

“Fine,” Oliver consented in reluctant agreement. He looked to Sara, “But if things get dicey, my first priority is my family, not the mission.”

Iris reached for her phone to let Joe and Cecile know where they were headed while Barry sped back to the apartment to throw together a bag for them and grab Oliver and Felicity’s suitcase from their foyer. Just in case this situation required more than 24 hours to handle. Which she had a strong feeling it would. Nothing ever seemed to be quick and uncomplicated when they all got involved.

“We better get Kara,” Oliver said when Barry got back a minute later. “She’ll be pissed if she finds out we went time traveling without her.”

“You afraid of Supergirl?” Felicity teased.

“She shoots lasers out of her eyes,” Oliver deadpanned.  

Barry nodded in agreement, “It won’t be the same without her.”

He looked over at Cisco who took his cue to create the portal to Kara’s loft on Earth 38 and Iris watched as the two of them jumped through.

**-BARRY-**

“You have to believe me, I wanted to tell you sooner. I was just trying to protect you,” they heard Kara pleading with someone as they exited the portal. The woman she was talking to’s hurt expression shifted to one of awestruck shock as she spotted them appear over Kara’s shoulder.

“Uhhh… bad time?” Barry asked when Kara spun around to face them.

The look Kara gave him indicated it was as dumb of a question as he thought.

“What’s up?” she asked, wiping away a few stray tears and putting on a smile that was more of a grimace.   

“Sara came calling. She needs our help with—“ Barry’s eyes slid to the other woman, not sure how much he should be saying in front of her. “...something.”

Kara’s face wrinkled up contemplatively, “But it’s not October…”

Cisco snorted, “Yes well the Legends live outside of time, so apparently catastrophic events happen for them during the summer too. Who knew?”

“Will someone please explain what the hell is happening?” The woman behind Kara spoke up angrily, “Who are the Legends? Where did these guys come from? Who are they? Do they know you’re Sup— _her?_ ”

Kara took a deep breath and made introductions, “Lena, this is Barry and Cisco. They’re friends of mine from Earth 1—“ Lena opened her mouth to say something and Kara rushed on, “Yes there are multiple earths, we can unpack that later—and yes they know I’m Supergirl.”

Lena crossed her arms over her chest, “Great. So even people who aren’t from this dimension of the multiverse knew before I did.”

Barry and Cisco stole a knowing look at each other.

The secret identity reveal. They had some experience with that.

Clearly whoever Lena was, Kara was important to her. Barry remembered that same expression on Iris’ face when she confronted him in STAR Labs after figuring out he was the Flash.

“You know, we can probably handle this without you…” Barry began, to give Kara an out if she needed to stay home and deal with her current predicament.

“What are we up against,” Kara asked.

“Time traveling meta-humans.”

Lena’s eyes widened to almost comic proportions, her eyebrows elevating towards her hairline. Barry could see the wheels in her brain turning.

Kara shook her head, “Oh, I am not missing out on that. ”

“So you’re leaving. Right now?” Lena inquired incredulously.

“I—“ Kara gestured at them, “They need my help.”

“Fine.” Lena set her facial expression resolutely. “But you’re taking me with you.”

Surprise lit up Kara’s face before she glanced over at Barry questioningly, launching into an appeal, “That’s actually a good idea. She can help us. She’s the smartest person on this Earth.”

The barest flicker of a smile passed across Lena’s face at the praise and Barry shrugged, “I don’t see why not. I’m sure there’s plenty of room on the Waverider.”

* * *

“I’m sorry--Did you say one bathroom?” Oliver was asking when they arrived back on Earth-1 after giving Kara and Lena time to pack their things.

So maybe, “plenty of room,” wasn’t entirely accurate.

Sara shrugged, “It’s not so bad.” Oliver raised his eyebrows at her and she acquiesced, “Okay, it’s not ideal, but you’ve certainly been in worse living situations. I think you’ll survive.”  Noticing their arrival, her eyes landed on Lena, who was looking around the cortex in awe, “Hey guys…”

“Lena,” Kara supplied. “This is Lena.”

“What is she doing here?” Oliver asked Kara and Felicity wrapped a hand around his forearm to make him conscientious of his tone. He softened, “Sorry. Old reflex. But, should we really be getting more people involved? The danger of the mission aside, I don’t have a secret identity to protect anymore, but… the rest of you...”

“Oliver it’s fine,” Barry reassured him. “She’s from another Earth, what does it matter if she knows I’m the Flash on this one? Besides, she’s Kara’s friend, and if Kara trusts her, I trust her.”

They all looked to Kara for confirmation and she nodded, “I trust her.”

Lena laughed dryly, muttering, “Oh really? You do?”

Kara winced, looking down at her hands clasped tightly in front of her.  

Barry leaned into Iris and whispered, “She just found out that Kara’s Supergirl. Maybe you could talk to her at some point? As someone who’s been in her shoes…?”

He knew the guilt that Kara was feeling. Knew what it was like to know you had hurt your best friend, despite all the ways you tried to reassure yourself that you had been doing the right thing. And if anyone could empathize with Lena, it was his wife.

“Mmm,” Iris hummed knowingly.

Sara cleared her throat awkwardly, “Well, Lena. I’m Sara. And this is…”

“Felicity.” “Iris.” “Oliver.” They each introduced themselves with a small wave.

“And I guess you already met Barry and Cisco.” Sara crossed her arms over her chest and lifted an eyebrow, “I hope you were adequately prepared for what you signed up for.”

“Not in the slightest,” Lena clipped teresely, before offering them a small smile. “But really, it’s nice to meet you all.” She shot a loaded look at Kara, “ _Finally.”_

“It’s nice to meet you too Lena. Any friend of Kara’s is a friend of ours,” Felicity replied warmly, diffusing some of the tension, the others nodding in agreement.

“We’ll brief you on the situation once we’re on the ship.” Sara ushered them towards the pipeline. “I expect that Gideon is close to getting a lock on our meta runaways by now.”

Before following everyone out of the cortex, Barry asked Cisco and Caitlin, the latter who had arrived in response to the alarm while they were picking up Kara, “You good to hold down the fort here?”

“Of course,” they assured him.

“Just don’t have too much fun galavanting through time without us,” Caitlin added.

Boarding the Waverider, they were greeted by Ray, Zari and---

“Not Amaya,” the Amaya doppelganger waved lazily, her accent a startling contrast to the voice they associated with her visage. “Just thought we should get that out from the get go. In case any of you were ever in love with her. I don’t want to bloody anyone else’s nose.”

Felicity tilted her head in confusion and Sara explained, “This is Charlie, she’s a shapeshifter--or she was. She’s currently stuck like this. Ray, where’s Nora?”

“Umm… she needed a few minutes to prepare herself for…” Ray tipped his head awkwardly in Oliver’s direction.

Barry frowned. When they said goodbye to their daughter in 2019 had she somehow ended up joining the Legends instead of returning to 2049? And what was her beef with Oliver?

“She’s not going to put a hex on him is she?” Sara asked, eliciting a noncommittal shrug from Ray.

Okay so, maybe not their Nora. Unless she had also discovered witchcraft at some point.

“Nora who?” Oliver asked.  

“We…” Sara exchanged looks with her teammates. “...probably have a lot to catch you guys up on since we missed the annual fall get together last year. In our defense we were stuck in an alternate timeline where we were puppets—”

Barry saw Lena mouth, _“What the fuck?”_ and he bit back an amused smile. Sometimes it was easy to forget that not everyone’s life was filled with one bizarre instance after another that nothing was shocking anymore.

“—Among a number of other time shattering problems.” Sara gestured for the group to follow her, “But before we get into all that, let’s get you settled in your rooms so you can drop off your bags.”

Stopping at a door, she announced, “This is Nate’s old room. Oliver and Felicity you can stay here. Disclaimer: I would not describe the walls as soundproof.”

Oliver shook his head at her—rolling his eyes—and he and Felicity slipped inside, leaving the rest of them to continue down the hall where they dropped Iris and Barry off next in another one of the empty bedrooms.

**-FELICITY-**

Felicity stepped outside she and Oliver’s shared room to find Ray waiting for her in the hallway.

“Hey.”

“Hey. I didn’t know about...” Ray looked down at her abdomen pointedly. “Congratulations. Should you be coming along with us though?”

She crossed her arms and gave him a look.

“Right. You’ve probably already had this argument with Oliver and don’t want to have it again.” His demeanor suddenly became nervous. “Where is Oliver?”

“He’s on the phone with Dinah letting her know he’s going to be missing a few more days of work than he was originally planning. He’ll be right out though.” She lifted a curious eyebrow, “What’s up?”

“So the Nora that Sara was talking about is… Nora Darhk.”

Felicity’s eyes widened, “As in, Damien Darhk's daughter, Nora Darhk?”

That explained Sara and Ray’s comments about Nora from earlier. She needed to prepare herself to see the man who killed her father. How in the world had she ended up with the Legends?

“Yeah. But from the future, so she’s not like, twelve. That would be creepy. Because we’re in a relationship. Sort of. I think?”

“Oh. That’s… that’s...” Felicity searched for the right word while her brain processed.

“She’s been through a lot, but she has a good heart. Kinda like someone else we both know?” _Oliver._ Ray stuffed his hands into his pockets and dipped his head shyly, “I love her.”

Felicity smiled and patted his arm, “Then she’s very lucky.”

She had so many regrets about allowing Ray to become collateral damage of the (metaphorical and literal) explosion of her relationship with Oliver all those years ago. He deserved someone that wasn’t tangled up in another’s heart, someone who wouldn’t hurt him the way she had.

Ray returned her smile, “Thanks Felicity. I just wanted to assure you and Oliver that Nora’s not the same vengeful person she used to be now that she’s in a safe space to finally begin to heal from all the trauma she experienced.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. “It also helps that she’s no longer possessed by a demon.”

“She what?”

“Like I said, she’s been through a lot. The point is, I don’t think it’s going to be easy for her to see Oliver again, but she promised me she’s not going to try to kill him in his sleep. In case you were worried.”

Well she _hadn’t_ been worried.

“Ray?” an unfamiliar voice filtered down the hallway and by the way Ray’s eyes lit up, Felicity knew it had to be Nora.

Oliver stepped out of their room at precisely the same moment that Nora found them and Felicity stiffened in anticipation. It was quite a shock to see the girl who had been just a child only three years ago in their timeline standing before her as a grown woman. She saw in Nora’s eyes a look she had seen in Oliver’s many times before. Haunted.

“Do you know who I am?” Nora asked Oliver, her voice razor sharp.

Felicity was suddenly doubting Ray’s assurances that Nora wasn’t going to enact revenge on her husband when Oliver looked to her for an answer.

She began to explain, “Oliver this is—“

“My name is Nora Darhk.” Nora interrupted her. “You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

Oliver held up his hands defensively and a tense silence ensued before Nora frowned, “Seriously? You didn’t get that reference?” She turned to Ray, exasperation on her face, and smacked his chest. “You told me that _everyone_ had seen The Princess Bride except for me. I was _trying_ to make this less awkward.”

By using humor. Something she had likely picked up from the time she had spent with Ray, modeling his own tendencies.

Ray raised his hands defensively, “I didn’t think you were actually going to say that.”

As realization of what had just occurred dawned on her, accompanied by a wave of relief, Felicity snickered, “In your defense, Oliver _does_ have terrible taste in movies.”

“Hey!” he protested, shooting her a look, before turning his attention back to Nora.

“Nora, I’m sorry—“

She held up a hand to stop him, “You did what you felt you had to do. My father might have loved me in his own twisted way, but he was not a good man. I know that. Your family, your city, needed to be protected from him.”

“But I didn’t consider what would happen to you. And for that I am very sorry.”

Nora gave him a small smile, “Apology accepted. How is…” She shook her head. “I forget his name. Your son?”

Felicity felt a pang of sadness at the mention of William. Before their dinner with Iris and Barry they had spent a few days with him. Every time they had to say goodbye it was hard. She understood better now how her mother felt when she was absent from her life for so long.

“He’s good,” Oliver answered.

“I’m glad. I had a lonely childhood and, I know my dad kidnapped him, but the days he spent at our house were some of my last good memories before--” Nora closed her eyes, pain evident on her face. “Before everything changed.” Ray wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and she looked up at him, “I’m not lonely anymore though.”

Yes, Felicity thought. Ray deserved someone who looked at him like _that_. There was no questioning who Nora’s heart was loyal to.

“Team meeting, everyone to the bridge,” Sara’s voice crackled over the intercom, signaling the end of their conversation.

“Can’t leave the captain waiting.” Ray released Nora so they could walk hand in hand down the hallway.

When they had gotten a few paces ahead of them, Oliver leaned in to whisper, “So how exactly did that happen?”

Felicity slipped her hand into his. “I got the sense that the best answer we’re going to get to that question for now is: it’s a long story.”

“Mmm,” Oliver nodded in understanding. “Well, stranger things have happened I guess.”

“That’s for sure. Also, you really should watch The Princess Bride. It’s a classic.”

**-LENA-**

“Charlie and Zari agreed to share a room for the time being, so Kara and Lena you can stay here in Charlie’s room. I cannot make any promises on how clean it is.”  

When Sara left them, Lena swallowed as she took in the sight of the one bed tucked against the wall. She definitely had not been adequately prepared for what she had signed up for.

“I can float.”

She looked over at Kara, her brow furrowing, “What?”

“You can have the bed. I can float in my sleep, so…”

“Oh.”

She wasn’t sure what she was feeling about the whole situation she had somehow found herself in. The boxes in her mind labeled “Kara” and “Supergirl” had been ripped open in the last 24 hours, making an absolute mess. Not to mention she had just been presented with the reality of a multiverse and time travel and--- she was going to _kill_ Kara for keeping all of this from her. Keeping a whole other life from her.

“I’m really glad you came along.” “Can I have a few minutes to myself?”

They spoke at the same time, Kara’s hopeful smile slipping off her face.

“Oh. Yeah. Of course. I’ll umm--- I’ll just go check in with Sara. See if she needs help with anything.”

Kara turned to go and Lena felt her absence like a black hole in the small room. Sinking down onto the edge of the mattress, she attempted to reorganize the boxes in her mind, to focus on the objective of the mission-- which was what exactly? Why was she on this ship with a bunch of strangers? Even Kara was no familiar comfort. After everything, she didn’t feel like she knew her supposed best friend any better than any of the other passengers.

Rising to her feet, she started to poke around the room, hoping to distract herself until she felt ready to rejoin the group or was summoned.

“Is there something I can help you with Ms. Luthor?”

The voice seemed to come from nowhere, startling her, and her eyes darted around for cameras.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“I am Gideon. The Waverider’s AI. I was created in the future with extensive knowledge of what has already transpired in this timeline, which means I knew you would board this ship and befriend the Legends.”

“Do you know everything about me? In the future?”

_Do I become just like my brother?_

The fear that never ceased to haunt her. That she was a Luthor through and through, and would one day walk the same twisted path as Lillian and Lex. Some days she felt as though she was already on it.  

“It’s not always best to know one’s future Ms. Luthor. Many people have caused great catastrophes in an attempt to outrun their destiny.” Lena sighed and Gideon continued, “But I can assure you that yours is not one to fear.”

“Unless we break time again. You could end up a cat.”

Lena turned around and saw--- she wracked her brain for the name that she had introduced herself with---

“Charlie.”

“Right. This is your room.”

_And what was that about turning into a cat?_

“Yep. And I left something in here so if you don’t mind...” Charlie pushed herself off the doorframe and walked into the room, crouching in front of the bed and pulling out a bottle of scotch from underneath. She took a generous swig of it straight from the bottle without flinching and Lena, knowing full well that Kara could crush her like a grape with her bare hands, was still convinced that Charlie was the person on the ship who should be feared the most.

“Who are you again?” Charlie asked, eyeing her up and down.  

“Lena.”

“Mmm.” Charlie extended the bottle. “You want some? Not saying the only way to get used to all this--” she gestured around the room, “--is to get drunk, but it definitely helps.”

Lena took the bottle tentatively. As much as she wanted a drink, she wasn’t sure alcohol, her current emotional state, and sharing a room with Kara would be a good combination. The last thing she needed was for Kara to know _her_ secret.

She decided a small sip wouldn’t hurt and then asked, “How’d you end up involved with this?”

“I was taken prisoner. They were going to send me to hell but then I transformed into their good pal Amaya and they couldn’t damn this beautiful face so I got to stick around.”

“Are you an alien?”

That was at least something in her realm of understanding...

Charlie shook her head, “Immortal shape-shifter. A magical fugitive.”

...That was not.

“Their words, not mine,” Charlie added. “They’re not so bad though. The _Legends._ Bit of a pretentious name if you ask me, but I’ve grown to appreciate them and their flair for the dramatic. How’d you end up getting roped into this?”

“I was having a-- a fight, I guess, with Kara. I didn’t want to let her just walk away from it.”

She didn’t know why she was telling Charlie this, maybe she shouldn’t have drank any of the scotch.

“Ahh…” Charlie raised a knowing eyebrow. “Troubles with your lady friend. I’ve been there before.”

“Oh no, we’re not--that’s not, it’s not like that… we’re just friends.”

_She doesn’t feel that way about me._

“Right.” Charlie didn’t sound very convinced and Lena didn’t blame her. “Well she must be a very good just a friend if you were willing to follow her blindly into this mess.”

“Team meeting, everyone to the bridge.” Sara’s voice filtered into the room from the speaker system.

“We better be going. That one doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Charlie tilted her head towards the bottle of scotch still clutched in Lena’s hand. “I think you need that more than me. Consider it a welcome aboard gift.”

The shapeshifter turned to walk out the door and Lena set the bottle of scotch down before following her, relieved at the timely interruption to a conversation that was going in a direction she was afraid of confronting.

“Gideon, have you been able to pin down a location in the timeline that’s showing an anachronism?” Sara was asking when they arrived in the main hub of the Waverider.

Out of the corner of her eye Lena caught Kara trying to make eye contact with her and she kept her gaze fixated on the hologram in front of her. She wasn’t ready to talk to her. Not yet.

“Yes Ms. Lance. It appears that the Heraean Games of 776 BC have been hijacked by the missing metas.”

“The Heraean Games?” Sara inquired.  

“It’s basically the Olympics, but for women.” “It was the women’s equivalent of the ancient Olympic games.” Felicity and Lena answered at the same time, earning themselves a mixture of confused and amused looks from the group.

Felicity shrugged, “I watch a lot of History Channel.”

Felicity Smoak was a name Lena had heard before on her Earth. Back at MIT she had been a senior when Lena was a freshman. She wondered how many similarities there were between the purple-haired TA who was notorious for hacking one of NASA’s satellites and getting away with it by offering to rebuild their security as penance, and the pregnant blonde standing across from her.

“One of my tutors growing up was obsessed with ancient Greece.” Lena explained, eager to prove her usefulness to the group. “The games honor the goddess Hera and gave unmarried women a chance to compete in a series of running events.”

“Okay… Thank you nerd squad.” Sara gestured to the seats around them. “Buckle up newbies. This isn’t going to be the smoothest ride of your life.”

“We’re actually going to time travel. This is really happening,” Lena muttered to herself as she eased herself into one of the seats and fidgeted with the buckles on the harness. She looked over at Barry as he sat down on the other side of her, “Have you done this before?”

“Not on the Waverider. I can run fast enough to travel through time without it.”

“Oh.”  

Sara slid into her seat and flipped on the controls. “Alrighty team. 776 BC, here we come.”


	2. Episode 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took me so long to update this!! i forgot that writing action scenes is not my strong suit and it took me FOREVER to get my head wrapped around this chapter. (some of the scenes in this one have dual POVs but i tried to make it minimally confusing) hopefully it's worth the wait, enjoy!

**-FELICITY-**

As she dressed in the soft, flowing layers of the Grecian garment the Waverider’s fabricator had made for her, Felicity was relieved that they weren’t heading into an era during which stiff corsets and petticoats were the fashion. The outfit was comfortable and allowed plenty of room for her ever expanding midsection.

Oliver appeared at her side, wearing his own era appropriate outfit and she couldn’t help but grin at the image it conjured up in her head. “Let me guess frat boy, the last time you were dressed like this it was fashioned from a bed sheet and you were playing beer pong while being cheered on by a horde of sorority goddesses?”

“Something like that,” he mumbled, the tips of his ears turning pink. The man he was now was a far cry from the party boy he once was, but it was fun to tease him every once in a while about his former antics. Tucking one of her soft curls behind her ear, he regained some of his composure, “You look beautiful.”

“I feel like I’m Beyonce and about to do a themed maternity shoot to announce my pregnancy on Instagram.”

Her husband shook his head in amusement before ducking his head down to kiss her. “Promise me you’re going to be careful out there.”

She knew that Oliver thought it was an unnecessary risk for her to leave the ship, and it was taking a lot of resolve for him not to push the issue. Arguably her skill set wasn’t much use in a pre-WiFi time period, but that didn’t mean she was useless. While Oliver had been in prison she had suffered from insomnia that led her to watching quite a few late night specials on the History Channel. She knew how chaotic and crowded the city of Olympus would be during the games and they could use every extra set of eyes they had to find the renegade metas. She wasn’t foolish enough to actually engage in a fight with one though.

“I promise.”

Pressing one last kiss to her forehead, he took her hand to walk them down to the bridge to meet the rest of the team.

“Gideon? Have you been able to gather any more information on what triggered the anachronism?” Sara asked the AI system as they all gathered in the bridge in their Grecian getups.

“According to the original timeline, a young woman by the name of Althea is supposed to catch the eye of a local physician’s apprentice with her performance in the Heraean games and become the great, great, great, grandmother of Hippocrates.”

“The father of modern medicine,” Ray interjected.

“That is correct Dr. Palmer.”

“Is the woman in danger from the escaped metas?” Kara asked.

“When the anachronism showed up, the timeline began to shift, indicating that Althea of Delphi did not compete in the games in 776.”

“This seems like such an obscure person to target…” Zari mused. “If our thief wanted to change the future of medical practice, why not just take out Hippocrates himself?”

Lena’s brow furrowed, “And what’s the endgame of doing that?”

Felicity wondered the same thing, the wheels in her brain turning.

Ray shrugged, “It’s possible she was just accidental collateral damage.”

“Future repercussions of this change to the historical events have not begun to manifest and solidify yet, but my projection algorithm predicts that this will have consequential impacts to the timeline,” Gideon reported.

Sara nodded in understanding, “Which is why we need to fix things before they do. We landed the morning of the games. At some point between now and the start of the first event is when the anachronism occured.”

“Okay so we protect the great, great, great grandma of modern medicine and make sure she makes her appearance at the games so her future baby daddy falls in love with her.” Charlie adjusted the draping of Zari’s tunic, earning her a half-hearted scowl. “Just another Tuesday.”

“And catch the metas before they ride off in our new Waverider again,” Sara added.

“Seems simple enough.” Barry braced his hands on the console. “Nothing we can't handle.”

Zari groaned, “I can’t believe you just said that. So much could go wrong, and now you’ve definitely just jinxed us.”

**-KARA-**

They made the trek from where they had concealed the Waverider into the bustling metropolis of Olympia and were immediately surrounded by a crush of people. The city was busier than normal with travelers from all over Greece having arrived to watch both the first ever Olympic and Heraean games.

“What’s our strategy?” Oliver asked Sara as they gathered in a shaded alleyway.

“Usually we just keep our eye out for anything unusual. I think our best bet for finding Althea will be having some of us enter the games so we have people on the inside with the rest of the athletes. I’ll do it, and…” She looked around, inviting one of the other women in the group to volunteer.

Iris lifted her hands, “Only unmarried women could enter, so Felicity and I are out.”

“No one here knows that you’re married,” Charlie pointed out and both Barry and Oliver unconsciously stepped closer to their wives.

Felicity gestured to her belly, “Okay well I’m pregnant…”

“And I typically avoid running unless I’m being chased,” Iris finished.

“Guys, it’s okay.” Kara raised her hand, “I’m in. One question though: am I allowed to win? I’m very competitive. And I do have superspeed so...”

“Oh yeah because that won’t change history if a woman faster than a speeding bullet shows up.” Lena rolled her eyes, “You’ll probably get written into Greek mythology.”

Kara perked up excitedly, “You think?”

Sara shook her head in amusement, “Easy there cowgirl. We’re trying to fix the change to the timeline, not create any significant ones of our own.”

“I can regulate my speed,” Kara assured them. “It’s not all or nothing.”

“Fine. You can win. The rest of you will split up and circle the city, making your way inwards towards the stadium to see if we spot the metas. You all looked at those files Lyla sent, right?” Everyone nodded and she continued, “Good. So we know who we’re looking for.”

Kara tried not to take it too personally when Lena opted to join Zari and Charlie’s search effort instead of accompanying her and Sara. Her friend was clearly still upset with her though, and justifiably so. She tried to hold onto a strand of optimism that Lena wouldn’t have come along on the mission if she was planning on never speaking to her again, but she didn’t know how anything could ever be the same between them now.

**-SARA-**

“How’s your sister?” Sara asked in an effort to make small talk as they navigated through the streets, looking for where they could get themselves mixed up with the athletes.

“She’s good,” Kara answered. “She’s trying to adopt right now, so that process is keeping her even busier than usual.”

Sara had a brief flash of Ava holding a little blonde baby and the thought brought an unexpected smile to her face. All of her serious relationships had been forged in chaotic situations that didn’t quite put them on a trajectory towards a two kids and a picket fence kind of life. And she didn’t really want that version of “normal” anyway. It was hard to picture herself as the kind of girl who settled down—hell, she couldn’t even stay in the same time period for very long. But the thought of having a kid with Ava somehow didn’t make her want to run to the Cretaceous period. Maybe if Alex could find a way to be a mom _and_ badass director of a secret government agency, it wasn’t too far fetched of a possibility for her…

She shook her head, dismissing that train of thought. Felicity being around had probably just brought some baby fever hormones onto the ship; because _her?_ As a mother? That was crazy.

_Right?_

She returned her attention to Kara, “That’s exciting.”

“Yeah.” Kara beamed proudly. “Alex will be a great mom.”

“And you’ll be a great aunt,” Sara added encouragingly.

“Thanks. I—“

Their conversation was cut short by a commotion that drew their attention. Two young women were arguing emphatically, but neither of them fit any of the descriptions of the missing metas.

“Excuse me,” Kara was walking up to them before Sara could tell her they should just keep moving along. The women paused, hands still raised argumentatively and looked to her with matching expressions. Kara proceeded to ask, “Are you two competing in the games?”

One of the women glared at the other before answering Kara, “ _She’s_ not.”

“I worked just as hard as you!”

“You were supposed to stay home and take care of Yiayia!”

“She told me to come! This is my only chance too! Father will have us both married by the end of the year.”

Kara glanced back at Sara. _Sisters._ The argument was likely to go on for longer than they had time to stick around for, but the women probably knew where they needed to go to find Althea.   

Sara stepped forward and interjected, “Can you please tell us where to go to enter the competition?”

The one who was presumably the older sister flung her arm in the direction of one of the roads and Sara figured that was probably the best directions they were going to get. Kara followed her as they eventually found their way to the original Olympic stadium, which was swarmed with young women.

Sara ripped off the bottom part of her garment to make it more closely resemble the slightly less incommodious tunics the other women were wearing.

“The worst part about the time travel is the ridiculously impractical outfits,” she grumbled, a part of her still missing the days when her sleek black leather was her standard armor and not the ballgowns and other ridiculous getups she had been forced to learn how to fight in.    

“Skirts aren’t that impractical,” Kara remarked, making the necessary modification to her own tunic.

She shot her a look, “Girl, you need to get yourself a suit with pants. It’ll change your life.”

Kara shrugged, unconvinced, before asking, “How are we going to find Althea in this mess?”

“That’s why this is a crossover effort.”

**-ZARI-**

“Althea of Delphi.”

Zari’s ears perked up and she beckoned Charlie and Lena to follow her over to the girl with thick dark hair cascading down her back and muscular looking legs who was introducing herself to another woman.

“Althea?” Zari inquired.

The girl in question turned and looked at her quizzically, “Yes? Do I know you?”

“No. But we’ve… we’ve heard of you.”

The furrow between her strong brows deepend, “You have?”

“Market chatter,” Lena offered. “You’re favored to run well.”

Althea laughed softly, “I didn’t think I had a reputation.” She scanned the three of them with an analytical expression. “Are you here to compete as well?”

Zari shook her head, “No, just here to watch.”

“I think the spectator entrance is that way…” She pointed out at the way they had come into the stadium, not unkindly.  

“Right, uhh, thank you. Good luck in your race.”

A beautiful smile turned up the corners of her mouth, making it even more evident why she was supposed to be the one that stole the heart of the doctor, and she tipped her head in appreciation, “Thank you.”

Althea turned back to resume conversation with her companion and Zari led Lena and Charlie away, opening up her comm with Sara while keeping an eye on the woman.

“Sara, we found her. Where are you?”

“I think I see them,” they heard Kara say over the comm link, likely having utilized her x-ray vision to pick them out of the throng of women preparing for the first race of the morning.

“Stay where you are, don’t let her out of your sight,” Sara directed. “We’re on our way over to you.”

Charlie gestured in a mock salute that Sara likely wouldn’t see, “Aye aye Captain.”

When Sara and Kara made it over to them, Zari pointed out Althea in the group of women who were preparing for the first race.  “Do you want us to stay here with you and protect her or…?”

“The rest of the team hasn’t spotted any of the meta prisoners in the city, which means it’s likely they’re somewhere inside the stadium. I think Kara and I can handle bodyguard duty, if you three want to keep an eye on the spectators.”

Zari nodded, “We’ll continue our search.”

**-FELICITY-**

“No sign of any of the metas yet captain,” Ray informed Sara over the comms as they wove through the crowd in a market near the stadium. Iris had attempted to use her reporter savvy to ask around about the metas they were looking for, but with so many out of town visitors, it was easy for a few more to slip by unnoticed.

“Keep looking. Kara and I have eyes on Althea. Zari, Charlie, and Lena are keeping watch on the crowd from the spectator sections.”

“Maybe we should join them inside the stadium?” Felicity suggested.

Oliver clutched her arm, “Are you getting tired of walking? Do you need to rest?”

“I’m _fine_.” Sure, the sandals she was wearing were not as ergonomic as her 21st century shoes, and her bladder wasn’t going to let her avoid figuring out what constituted for a bathroom in Ancient Greece, but she was capable of toughing it out through a lot worse. “I just don’t think we’re accomplishing anything out here and I overheard someone say the first events of the day were about to start.”

“And at this point whatever happened to Althea to keep her from competing is going to happen inside the stadium,” Iris finished for her in agreement. “We should be in there in case Kara and Sara need backup.”

They all agreed on the course of action and turned their steps towards the monolith the crowds were funneling inside.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver whispered, running his fingers down the inside of her forearm to catching her hand. “I know you don’t like to be treated like you’re fragile. There just wasn’t exactly a chapter on time traveling in the edition of What to Expect When You’re Expecting that I read so…”

“It’s okay. I appreciate you looking out for me and my feet _are_ a little bit tired. But I don’t want to be the deadweight.” She frowned, “I feel useless without some security cameras or automated locks to hack.”

Oliver squeezed her hand, “You’re not useless. And I’ll give you a foot rub when we get back on the ship.”

**-SARA-**

“I’m starting to feel like we’ve been sent on a wild goose chase,” Sara lamented as she and Kara kept an eye on both Althea and the surrounding area. “There’s eleven of us and we haven’t managed to spot anything out of place. The competition is going to start any minute and Althea is here, ready to compete.”

“So you think maybe our presence has inadvertently fixed the anachronism?” Kara suggested. “Like whoever’s piloting the other Waverider saw us arrive and decided to move on to causing an anachronism somewhere else in the timeline while we wandered around here?”

That was exactly what she was starting to think. As soon as they ensured Althea made it over the finish line, they were heading back to the ship to check in with Gideon.

Just as she was having that thought though, Kara threw her arm out with lightning quick reflexes, catching a sharp looking projectile that had been on route to where Althea was standing a few feet behind them. The woman’s eyes widened in fear and panic was palpable from those in the surrounding crowd that had witnessed the near incident.

“Never mind.” Kara swallowed, holding up the lethal metal spike for inspection. “We’re definitely in the right spot.”

Amongst the chaos, they heard someone call for the first group of competitors to prepare to enter the stadium for the first race.

“You stay here with Althea.” Sara directed. “Reassure her that it’s safe for her to compete. Make sure she gets onto the track. I’m going after whoever shot that.”

Kara nodded in understanding, and Sara turned on her heel to run off in the direction that the assault had come from.

**-LENA-**

The two groups on patrol duty in the stadium ended up congregating around the upper rim of the spectator seating. Sara had alerted them to the presence of the meta and their attempted attack on Althea, but whoever it was had managed to successfully lose themself before she could catch up to them, and none of them had had any luck either. As they were strategizing what their next move should be, their attention was drawn by the crowd roaring to life as competitors made their way out onto the track.

Lena watched as Kara stepped up to the starting line, hands on her hips and a breeze ruffling her hair— even without her suit she looked all Supergirl. It would be ridiculous that the only thing she used to protect her secret identity was a pair of glasses if it wasn’t for the fact that her entire demeanor changed when she switched between her alter egos. A unearthly power radiated off of her when she embodied the Girl of Steel.

The race began and Kara was clearly trying to use restraint as she kept pace with the pack.

That restraint lasted less than twenty seconds.

Lena felt the surge of awe ripple through the crowd as Kara pulled ahead and quite literally left the rest of the women in the dust. As upset as she was with her friend, she couldn’t help the proud smile that spread across her face as Kara waved to the cheering spectators.

“If this was the 21st century, she would be immediately whisked away for a drug test after that,” Ray remarked from beside her.

Iris leaned forward and looked down the row at them to contribute, “But seeing as this isn’t the 21st century, she’ll probably get a statue.”

“Wouldn’t be her first,” Lena quipped.

**-KARA-**

“What happened to regulating your speed?” Sara asked when Kara returned to her after being crowned the victor, draped in laurels and reveling in the roar of the crowd still vibrating through her bones. She hasn’t intended to get quite so carried away, her plan had been to win by a slimmer margin, but she hadn’t been able to help herself once she started to run.

“I _was_ regulating. If I hadn't been, no one would've seen anything. I would've just been a blur.”

Sara sighed, “Mhmm. Well congratulations on the big win. You can add Olympic track star to your resume.”

“Yeah I think that would raise a few red flags with employers. Were you able to find the meta behind the attack?”

Sara shook her head, “No. Whoever it was, they disappeared fast. It was too crowded down there, too easy to lose someone.”

Kara looked over to where Althea was standing, her hair a little rumpled and her skin glowing with sweat, but unharmed. She had come in second behind her, and while she had looked a little put out when she crossed the finish line, she had still offered her congratulations and a thank you for saving her life. When Kara had approached her before the race, she had accepted the proposition that the attack had probably been from a Spartan looking to knock out her competition and she shouldn’t let it discourage her from running her race without argument. Apparently a Nancy Kerrigan situation wouldn’t have been very surprising in Ancient Greece.

“Okay, but we did it, right? Althea competed. Timeline fixed. Mission accomplished.”

Sara shook her head, “We probably just delayed things. We can’t leave until we find the metas or they might take another shot at her. It’s pretty obvious now that she was the intended target, not just an accidental victim of the crossfire of someone else’s assassination.”

Kara deflated a litte, and joined Sara in scanning through the crowd, engaging her x-ray vision.

**-FELICITY-**

Felicity stared at the hole in the ground that was supposed to be a toilet and decided she _definitely_ preferred watching the History Channel to living it. Doing her best to ignore the horrendous smell, she relieved herself and started to make her way back to where Oliver was waiting for her outside the stadium. He had been reluctant to let her wander off on her own, but she didn’t think his presence would be welcome near the toilet holes that were seriously lacking in privacy.

As she picked her way through the crowd, a woman, clearly distracted, bumped into her without apology and Felicity caught a glimpse of her face out of the corner of her eye. Recognition connected a few dots in her brain and she tapped her comms, opening a private channel with the team captain. She didn’t want Oliver to freak out unnecessarily. “Sara, I just spotted one of the metas. Long red hair, freckles…”

_Definitely going to get burnt to a crisp if she spends much more time on the Mediterranean without SPF._

Sara’s voice crackled over the channel, “Isn’t that the one whose file said she could shoot metal spikes out of her skin?”

“That’s the one.”

“She’s the one who tried to take out Althea earlier. We never got a look at her before she disappeared. Can you still see her?” Sara asked.

Felicity rolled up on her tiptoes to try to gain some height on the people around her and narrowed her eyes on a flash of red hair.

“Yes, but I’m about to lose her. It looks like she’s headed towards the southern entrance to the stadium. I could follow her, but without backup I—”

“Don’t,” Sara interrupted her. “Oliver will kill me if I let you go after her alone. Kara and I aren’t far from the south tunnel, we should be able to get eyes on her. Thanks for the heads up Felicity.”

Switching off her comms, Felicity rested her hand on her stomach and muttered, “Normally I would complain about you making me have to pee every five minutes, but just this once, you were very helpful. Good job.”

**-SARA + KARA-**

Sara opened up her comms channel to the whole group, “Where are you guys? We’ve got eyes on one of the metas.”

“Uhhh… a street?”

“Insightful Zari, thank you.” Sara picked up her speed to avoid losing the redhead as she and Kara weaved through the people milling about in the streets. They had found the meta right where Felicity said she would be, lurking outside the southern entrance. She had likely been waiting for Althea to emerge, hopefully without an entourage of superheroes to protect her again. She must’ve recognized them from earlier, because she turned tail and bolted when they approached her.

“It’s not my fault they didn’t have Google Maps in ancient Greece.”

“We’re outside the Western entrance,” Felicity contributed. She must’ve found her way back to the rest of them safely and Sara felt a pang of relief. “There’s food vendors nearby. What I wouldn’t give to be able to track heat signatures right now…”

“Western entrance… okay...” Kara wasn’t even breathing heavily as she ran side by side with Sara and it was taking a lot of self control for her to restrain herself from revealing too much of her power. A flying woman would certainly make waves in the mythos of Ancient Greece, if her performance in the race hadn’t already.

“We’re going to try to push her towards you,” Sara announced to the team. “Be ready.”

They split up and were able to come at her from both sides, forcing her in the direction where the rest of the team was hopefully waiting.

Chasing her down the alleyway, they ran into the rest of the group, who quickly jumped into action at the sight of them.

Realizing she was cornered, the meta started projecting metal spines everywhere like a panicking porcupine. Kara and Iris moved in front of Felicity protectively while Barry ran about collecting as many spines as possible before they impaled anyone. To get close enough to her to restrain her with the power dampening cuffs they had brought along would pose a challenge.

“You okay baby mama?” Iris asked Felicity, her brow furrowed in concern.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. Are you?”

“Not a scratch,” she assured her before glancing over at Kara. “Kara? Oh right, you’re bulletproof. We’re good.”

**-ZARI-**

Once the meta was cuffed, her powers neutralized and no longer threatening to turn them into shish kabobs, they all released a collective sigh of relief. A few of them were bleeding from scratches inflicted by the spikes, but no one seemed too terribly injured.

“Where’s the rest of the prisoners?” Oliver growled. It had a slightly less threatening effect without his green leather, but the young woman still cowered in fear.

“They left me here.”

That explained why they were impossible to find. One meta could go undetected a lot easier than an entire prison block.

“Far from anywhere ARGUS can ever find me,” she continued. “I’ll never find out how Greys Anatomy ends and I might die of plague, but that’s preferable to going back in that hole they buried me in. I was studying art at Central City University when that blasted particle accelerator went off. I didn’t mean to--” Her voice broke, “I didn’t mean to become a monster.” Her eyes turned desperate. “Please let me stay here.”

“Who broke you out of ARGUS?” Sara pressed. “What’s their plan?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. She wore a mask, didn’t give us any information that wasn’t necessary to play our part. All I was told was that I needed to take out the girl. One last target, and then I’d be free.” Her metallic spines rippled out from underneath her skin before sheathing again. In explanation, she offered, “I was working on a sculpture that night. The explosion made it a part of me. Made me into this… weapon. I fled the city when The Flash started bringing in metas, afraid I was next. But I fell into the wrong crowd, who saw my abilities as advantageous to their operations. A few months later the whole crew was apprehended on a failed heist at a military weapons depot and I was left to rot in the ARGUS prison--deemed too dangerous to be held anywhere else. I’ve made some mistakes, but you have to believe me. I didn’t want to be a part of any of this.”

Sara turned to Ray and Zari with a sigh, “What do we do? Her presence here could cause another anachronism, even if it’s only by accident.”

“We can’t just send her back to the ARGUS prison though,” Zari argued out of compassion for the young woman’s predicament. She knew the organization had yet to become the ARGUS she had been fighting against in 2042 when she was picked up by the Legends, but she couldn't shake the image of their uniformed officers breaking into her home and killing her brother. It was one thing to protect the timeline, but she hadn’t signed up for helping ARGUS recapture prisoners who she wasn’t entirely sure deserved such a fate. At least not this one. “What if we set her up with a new life? In her own place in the timeline?”  

Sara bit her lip contemplatively, “Can we trust her? Who says she’s not going to go back to using her abilities to hurt people?”

“Second chances are kind of our thing,” Ray pointed out.

“You’re right.” Sara turned back to the woman who was watching them converse anxiously. “We can’t let you stay here.” Her face fell and Sara continued, “But we can take you somewhere in your own time where you can start over. Are you sure there isn’t anything else you can tell us about the woman who broke you out of ARGUS?”

She shrugged helplessly, “I wish I could. I was the first person to be dropped off, but I’m sure the rest were given their own tasks, their own targets.”

It seemed the chase had just begun.  

* * *

“Aimee is now “Madison” and has been successfully set up with a new life in Chicago where she can sculpt in peace,” Zari reported when she and Charlie returned on the jumpship from their excursion to relocate their runaway meta. She and Felicity had worked together to quickly cobble together a new identity for Aimee—Madison, that would keep her off ARGUS’s radar as long as she avoided skewering anyone.

“Good,” Sara nodded in approval. “Gideon, how’s the timeline looking?”

“Besides a statue found in an archeological dig of the ruins of Olympia that quite resembles Ms. Danvers, the timeline remains intact.” Sara rolled her eyes in amusement at Kara’s smug grin as Gideon continued, “Hippocrates legacy has not changed.”

“Alright,” Sara clapped her hands together. “Nice work team. So now we just wait until another anachronism shows up on the timeline to figure out where the rest of the escaped metas were dropped.”

Oliver frowned, “There’s nothing for us to do in the meantime?”  

The captain rested her hands on her hips, “Oh I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, we keep ourselves very busy around here,” Ray chimed in.  

_**THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CUE FOR A MONTAGE...** _

> Barry pressed Iris against the wall, his hands fumbling with the layers of fabric she was dressed in. They had gone back to their room with the intention of just changing back into their modern clothes, but since they had time to kill…
> 
> “Having a little trouble there?” Iris teased.
> 
> “I’m used to zippers and buttons, not togas,” he grumbled.
> 
> “I believe it’s technically called a chiton actually,” she remarked, pushing him away from her so that she could lift the garment up over her head.
> 
> Discarding his own tunic, he scooped her up and she wrapped her now unencumbered legs around his waist. He was kissing her neck when they heard a pounding on the wall and froze.
> 
> “Keep it down in there!” A voice that they were pretty sure was Zari’s came muffled through the wall. “Some of us are just trying to take a nap!”
> 
> They exchanged matching chastised expressions.
> 
> “I guess we should’ve gotten the warning about the thin walls too.” Barry muttered and Iris dissolved into a fit of laughter, burying her face against his shoulder.  
> 
> * * *
> 
> “And that’s why you don’t mess with a Vegas girl,” Felicity declared triumphantly as she pulled the stacks of chips towards herself, winning her third round of poker. “Thank you all for your contributions to the Queen baby nursery fund.”
> 
> Oliver was trying hard to hide a smirk and Lena was looking at her with an expression that made her think she was definitely clued into her… _strategy_ , but was willing to let it slide.   
> 
> “The Time Bureau doesn’t pay us enough to keep playing against her,” Zari grumbled.
> 
> Charlie crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, “Hold on. You all get paid?”
> 
> “I guess we never got around to changing your status over from prisoner to ‘on the payroll.’” Sara started to gather up the cards to shuffle them for another round. “I’ll talk to Ava about it once this mess is dealt with.”
> 
> “Oh please don’t make me play another game of this,” Kara lamented, watching Sara’s actions. “Can’t we play like Pictionary or something?”
> 
> “Not Pictionary,” Felicity protested. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m cleaning up here. The last time Oliver and I played Pictionary against Barry and Iris, they won off the fact that Barry can draw an entire masterpiece in the time it takes me to draw a stick figure. It’s unfair.”
> 
> * * *
> 
> _“Since you been gone—“_
> 
> _“I can breathe for the first time!”_
> 
> _“I’m so moving on—”_
> 
> “Are they always like this when they’re together?”
> 
> Oliver turned from watching Kara and Barry’s dramatic karaoke performance to address Lena’s question.
> 
> “Yep.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “They’re actually just getting started.”
> 
> “Hmm.” A flicker of amusement passed over her face, “Interesting song choice. Never heard it as a duet before.”
> 
> “Pickings were slim, for some reason we only have Kelly Clarkson karaoke,” Ray supplied, coming to stand on the other side of her. “I think Gideon might be a fan.”
> 
> “And he just had to pick one of the hardest songs in her discography!” Kara yelled, picking up on their conversation with her super hearing before jumping back into her part of the song. _“You had your chance you blew it, out of sight, out of mind—“_
> 
> Lena shook her head and walked off muttering, “This is a dream. There’s no way this is actually happening. I’m going to wake up any minute now and be back in National City…”
> 
> “Huh.” Ray tilted his head. “Out of _everything_ , it was the karaoke that pushed her over the edge?”
> 
> * * *
> 
> Kara heard the sound of violins coming from down the hall and when she went to investigate she found Zari and Lena in the library in the midst of a duet.
> 
> “You play the violin?” Kara asked in surprise, instantly regretting interrupting the hauntingly beautiful melody when the music stopped.
> 
> Lena glanced over at her, “Of course I play the violin. I began my lessons at age five from a retired member of the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra. That’s the kind of thing that rich people who see themselves as the elite of society make their kids do.”
> 
> Oliver piped up from where he was sitting in a chair in the corner reading, “It’s true.”
> 
> “You play the violin?” Felicity asked from the chair opposite his.  
> 
> “Piano.”  
> 
> Felicity’s eyebrows shot up, “Really?”
> 
> “It’s been at least twenty years since I touched a piano, so don’t get too excited.”
> 
> Felicity pouted and turned her attention back to the copy of Uncaged Desire she was reading. Copies of Mick’s book were littered around the ship and they had all picked up copies at some point in the past few hours to help fill the time, with widely varying opinions on its literary merit.
> 
> “Why didn’t you ever tell me you played the violin?” Kara inquired. “You’re so talented.”
> 
> “Well sometimes people don’t tell their best friend everything about them,” Lena clipped dismissively before drawing the violin back up to her shoulder and resuming her playing.  
> 
> Zari looked between Lena and Kara awkwardly before joining back in with the song.
> 
> * * *
> 
> “You’re getting slow old man,” Sara taunted, swiping at Oliver’s calf with her bo staff.
> 
> “I’m only two years older than you,” Oliver retorted, dodging another one of her strikes.
> 
> “Three. I was dead for a whole year so that one doesn’t count.”
> 
> Oliver rolled his eyes and pinned her to the wall. “Okay smartass.”
> 
> Releasing her, he started to back away, thinking the round over with him the victor. A mistake. She countered his smug grin with a smirk of her own and shot out a foot to kick out his ankle, sending him to the ground.  
> 
> “I never surrendered,” she pointed out, extending a hand that he ignored as he rose to his feet. “It’s nice to have someone around to spar with. No offense to the rest of my team, but having superpowers and magical weapons make them a lot less appreciative of a good old fashioned duel.”   
> 
> Oliver grinned, “I’m glad I can still be a worthy opponent for you, even in my old age.”
> 
> * * *
> 
> “So you’re saying this can make any kind of food I want?” Kara inquired, eyeing the unfamiliar appliance in the kitchen.
> 
> “Anything,” Zari confirmed.
> 
> “Let your imagination run wild love,” Charlie encouraged her.
> 
> After doing just that, Kara took her fabricated food with her into one of the other rooms on the ship and found Nora, Ray, and Barry fixated on whatever was playing on the tv. “What are you guys watching?”
> 
> “Singin’ in the Rain,” Ray answered.  
> 
> “Oooh I love musicals.” Kara joined them on the couch, balancing her plates of potstickers and donuts and pizza. It would be the perfect escape from her present situation with Lena.
> 
> “I think we finally found someone who could out eat Zari,” Nora remarked with amusement from her perch on Ray’s lap as she eyed Kara’s assortment of snacks.
> 
> “Do you think I can get one of those food fabricators to take back to my Earth?”  Kara asked, licking powdered sugar off her fingers. “What a time saver…”

* * *

**-IRIS-**

Iris found Lena sitting by herself at the dining room table and remembered Barry’s suggestion that she talk to her about her experience with finding out her best friend’s secret identity.

“Hey Lena,” she announced her presence, moving to take a seat next to her. “Couldn’t help but notice a little tension between you and Kara...,” Iris approached the subject gently.

“We’ve fought before. It’ll be fine—” Lena sighed, clasping her hands together on top of the table. “Well, Supergirl and I have fought before. Not Kara and I. Except they’re the same person.”

“Yeah. Barry mentioned it to me. That you just found out. And I know what that’s like, so if you want to talk about it…” She scanned Lena’s face, found the hesitation there. “... Or not talk about it. Just know that I empathize with what you’re going through. I was certainly not the first person in Barry’s life to be let in on his secret and it hurt. I was so disappointed that he didn’t confide in me. I didn’t want to hear the speech about how he wanted to tell me but he was just trying to protect me.” The barest hint of amusement fluttered across Lena’s face and Iris smiled, “Sound familiar?”  

“Yeah. I got _the speech_ too.”

“I know in the moment it sounds like a lot of bullshit, but from what I know of Kara, she’s a lot like Barry. I think her heart is in the same place. As completely illogical as their reasoning for keeping us in the dark was, it was genuine.”  

Lena was quiet for a moment before speaking softly, “Deep down, I think I’ve known for a long time. I just put it in a box and packed it away so that I could pretend my best friend wasn’t lying to my face. Pretend that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t protect her from.” Lena dipped her head, “So that I could pretend she trusted me.”

“Mmmm,” Iris nodded, understanding completely. “When I found out Barry was The Flash… I didn’t think our relationship could ever be the same again. And I mean, it’s not. But not in a bad way. When you watch the person you love throw themselves into danger day in and day out, you appreciate every moment you have with them so much more. I’m not saying you don’t give Kara a piece of your mind, I definitely had some words with Barry before I was ready to forgive him. But then you just have to decide if holding a grudge is really worth all the wasted time that could be spent on the next chapter in your relationship.”

A faint blush appeared on Lena’s cheeks and she fumbled over her words, “Kara and I aren’t—we aren’t a—we’re not like you and Barry. We’re not…”

“Best friends? Who would do anything to protect each other?”

Lena bit her lip, looking back down at her lap.

Iris raised her hands nonchalantly, “I’m just saying.” She had played the same game, had been blind to the true nature of her feelings for Barry for too long. Sensing that she was skirting on the edge of a landmine Lena wasn’t ready for her to step on though, she switched the subject, “So, what’s the most ridiculous cover story Kara ever told you?”

Lena’s shoulders relaxed as she started to laugh, “Just one? She once told me she flew to my office. On a bus. Why did I not question that?”

“Oooh are we sharing absurd lie stories?” Felicity asked, joining them at the table with a half gallon of ice cream and handing them spoons.

Iris had lost count of how much mint chocolate chip had been shared between them over the years as they supported each other through loss and grief. Losing Barry to the Speed Force. Oliver’s arrest the year before. They both knew what it was like to be in love with someone who bore so much responsibility for others, someone so self-sacrificing. Iris wondered if Lena had someone on her earth who brought her food and offered a shoulder to cry on.

“Yes.” Iris laid a hand on Felicity’s shoulder enthusiastically, answering her question. “Tell Lena about the laptop, or the syringe. Actually just tell them all. It never gets old picturing Oliver coming up with this stuff to say to you.”

**-KARA + SARA-**

Kara watched from across the room as Lena laughed along with Felicity and Iris. Seeing Lena look so relaxed and unguarded was a rarity. It warmed her heart to see her friend fitting into the group so well, despite the abyss she felt between the two of them.

Lena caught her eye and offered her a small smile that Kara dared to hope was some soft of peace offering. She was about to walk over and join their conversation when Gideon’s voice called them all to attention.

“Captain Lance? Another anachronism has appeared on the timeline.”

“When? Where?” Sara asked, rising eagerly from her seat on the steps into the bridge.

Not that the last 24 or so hours since their return from 776 BC had been insufferable, but she was eager to get a move on with things and get this situation dealt with in time for the date night she was supposed to be having with Ava on Friday.  

“1923. New York City.”

“Oh hey, I know this one.” Oliver joined her at the console. “That was the year the first game was played in Yankee Stadium. Against the Boston Red Sox.”

“Thank you for the baseball trivia but I doubt—”

“Mr. Queen is correct,” Gideon interrupted Sara. “It seems there’s been a massive explosion on opening day that took out half the stadium, resulting in hundreds of casualties.”

Sara looked over at Oliver, “I take it that’s not supposed to happen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter will focus heavily on different characters than this one, so don't worry, your faves will get attention :D

**Author's Note:**

> as always, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. I don't have a strict update schedule nailed down for this fic but I will do my best to not keep you waiting too long for the next "episode" 
> 
> in the meantime you can come chat with me on tumblr @mogirl97 and twitter @mo_writes :D


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